Sharing thoughts on marketing, technology and culture

Nike

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 Canadian Marketing Association Summit. The annual two day event was packed full of insights and information from true visionaries, with content focussed on this year’s theme of “connections” – how connections with consumers, with customers and with each other are made, maintained, and measured.

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. Sir Ken Robinson spoke about leading a culture of innovation – his talk was both humorous and inspiring.

Some key points from Sir Ken’s talk:

To be creative, we must actually DO something.

A systematic approach to innovation is needed – it must be engrained in a company’s culture.

Bryan Pearson, President and CEO of LoyaltyOne, is an internationally recognized expert and author in the fields of enterprise loyalty and coalition marketing with more than two decades experience developing meaningful customer relationships for some of the world’s leading companies. He is also the author of The Loyalty Leap – an insightful book that I just finished reading.

Some key points from Bryan’s talk:

Companies can’t cost cut their way to growth; they must connect differently with customers.

David Shing is the Digital Prophet for AOL and recently was the head of Media and Marketing for AOL Europe before relocating to New York in 2011. He literally gave the most fast-paced, high tempo presentation I’ve ever seen – sharing insights on the digital revolution, trends he sees unfolding, and how to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape.

Jim Lecinski is the Vice President, U.S. Sales for Google, and he leads Google’s advertising business nationally. His focus is helping major marketers and media agency partners in the Consumer Packaged Goods, Pharmacy & Healthcare, Food/Beverage/Restaurant, Branded Apparel & Durables and Media & Entertainment industries adapt to the new digital marketing realities.

Some key points from Jim’s talk:

The traditional mental model of marketing: stimulus -> first moment of truth (in store, point of decision) -> second moment of truth (experience product/service).

Recession and technology have changed the model of building brands.

A new moment of truth has arisen – online research.

Consider:

83% of people regularly rely on review sites when making buying decisions.

Adam Froman“The Age of Intelligence: From Insight to Action by Harnessing the Voice of the Customer”

Adam Froman, Founder and CEO of Delvinia, believes that digital platforms can be used to create meaningful, human connections between companies and their customers. His talk focussed on how companies can capture attitudes and behaviours of their customers to develop customer-driven strategies and improve customer experiences.

Some key points from Adam’s talk:

Much has changed over the last few years, but what hasn’t changed – need to get messages out to consumers, need to collect feedback to derive insights.

Voice of the customer has emerged, opportunity to collect feedback leveraging technology and attain 360 view of the customer in real time.

Three parts:

Ask customers for their opinion and perspective in real time.

Listen to what customers are saying about your brand.

Observe behaviour to understand how to enhance customer experience.

Ask:

Companies can use a variety of methods to attain opinions, including surveys, online communities, forums.

Perhaps it’s fitting that I’m writing this on Thanksgiving, a great time to pause, reflect, and give thanks to those who have had a significant impact on my life. Last Wednesday the world lost a true visionary in Steve Jobs. Much has been written, and much has been said, about the overwhelming impact and contribution that Jobs has made; some people have alluded to Jobs as being the Einstein of our generation, and I have a hard time disagreeing with that comparison.

Here are five personal things that I would like to thank Steve for:

Inspiring me. Steve’s many accomplishments, and the manner in which he achieved them, speak volumes.

Helping me to maintain and build relationships with friends. Sure, I use platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but it’s through Apple products that I access them.

Adding an element of fun to my runs. I bought an iPod Nano years ago, and have since graduated to using my iPhone. The Nike+ GPS app is definitely one of my favourites.

Teaching me. Steve Jobs built Apple into a brand that is unlike any other – one that cultivates passion and emotion, and arguably has the most loyal customer base in the world.

Reminding me that nobody is perfect. Even Apple is not without it’s flaws. Lost in the outpouring of admiration for Steve is one very staunch reality: the majority of Apple products are manufactured in China by Foxconn, a company that is known for significant human rights violations.

Of course, it’s also fitting that I’m writing this using my MacBrook Pro. Steve, you will be missed.

On May 19th, the British Columbia Chapter of the American Marketing Association held its’ annual flagship VISION Marketing Conference. This year, the focus was on the concept of ‘community’ and how the concept is reshaping our marketing landscape – as companies build deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers.

As I’m currently in Toronto, unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend VISION. However, I was paying close attention to the Twitter stream, enticed by a great speaker lineup and my affinity for the BCAMA – I volunteered with the association for over five years.

Thank you to VISION attendees, as well as the BCAMA’s social media team, for sharing what was being discussed. Here are the top 50 takeaways I was able to glean from Twitter!

Scott Stratten – Social Media Expert, Author of UnMarketing

rgerschman: #2011vision Marketing is not a task. Marketing is every time you choose to or choose not to engage with your market. It just is (S.Stratten)

wusnews: Online conversations are the most raw, passionate thoughts of your customers. #2011Vision

Today, I completed my longest run in about a year. Actually, it was my longest run since April 3rd, 2010 – when I ran 18.96km in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 29 seconds, at an average pace of 6 minutes and 37 seconds per kilometer.

How the heck do I know that? Well, I record my runs using the Nike+iPod sports kit, the ingenious collaboration between Nike and Apple that has benefited runners worldwide since its launch in 2006.

There are two main reasons why I marvel at Nike+:

1. An innovative product from a unique collaboration

I believe that over the coming years we are going to see more instances of companies – sometimes even competitors – joining forces in unique collaborations. There are many potential benefits to be gained, including shared knowledge and data, shared resources, and opportunity to develop new and innovative products and services by leveraging and combining strengths.

2. It’s social and community-driven

The Nike+ experience extends well beyond the runs, thanks to a fantastic website and online community that has been cultivated. Not only can Nike+ users record and track runs using the website, they can share their experiences with runners worldwide while also benefiting from some rich content – including a training tips blog.

Recently, Nike+ also added a “Challenges” section, through which individual users can create running challenges and invite community members to participate. Sample challenges include “365 miles in 2011”, in which all participants are challenged to run 365 miles, and “Fastest 5km in 2011”. Each challenge includes a leader board, adding some incentive for participants to compete against one another.